Dear Readers,

This year Hollywood’s Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences bestowed the Oscar upon Austria for its feature film, The Counterfeiters, marking a great success for the producers and Austria’s film industry.

We are glad to present an interview with the Austrian-born musicologist Siegmund Levarie, who spoke with Austrian Information on the memories of his youth in Vienna during the 1930s at a time when his father headed the Vienna Jewish Community, and on the following years of persecution and his emigration to the U.S.

Impressions and memories of Jewish cultural life in the 1920s and 30s surrounding Vienna’s coffeehouses are reflected throughout the well-known anecdotes by Friedrich Torberg, whose legendary collection of anecdotes entitled, Tante Jolesch, was recently translated into English.

Founded by two young Austrians in 2005, the company Jajah is the fastest-growing provider of telephoning via the internet. It is a phenomenal success story signaling potential for the future.

Other topics include the contribution of Ariadne Press publications in promoting Austrian Literature in the U.S. as well as coverage of the recent gala held at the Austrian Embassy, celebrating the German-American of the Year Award.

Yours sincerely,

Wolfgang Renezeder
Editor-in-Chief